Gold-separator.



B. P. TUGGLE.

GOLD SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION HLED FEB. 24. I916.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

, manner.

pnrrnn snares rarnur orrron BENJAMIN P. TUGGLE, OF POR'I'LAND, OREGON, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE .ASSIGNMEN TS, TO REDEMPTION GOLD COMPANY, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, A

CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

eonn-snranaron.

ful Improvements in Gold-Separators, of-

which. the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for sep- 'arating gold from dirt, andespecially to that class of such devices as are adapted for separating what is known as flour gold from dirt. I

Flour gold is gold in such fine particles that up to the present time no successful Commercial method has been devised for its extraction, from the soil, or from the waste material of present stamp mills.

The object of my invention is to provide a device which will extract such flour gold from the dirt, in a commercially successful lln general my invention consists in impinging by means of centrifugal force, the fine particles of gold upon a surface of mercury, with which the gold will form an amalgam, from which it may be subsequently extracted, and means for feeding to my device the gold containing material and for removing the waste material therefrom.

I also provide means for regulating the amount of mercury contained within the device, and means for causing the gold bearing material to follow a devious path in passing through the device.)

The construction of my device may be understood by reference to the. accompanying. drawings, which, therefore are a art of this application for Letters Patent, llke characters of reference indicating like parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional plan taken upon line A of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional plan taken upon line B of Fig. l.

Fig.- f is a perspective view of a fragment of one of the riille rings.

Figs. 5, 6, are similar views to Fig. 4 showing the construction of the riffle ring.

Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of Fig. 1 upon an enlarged Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 7, 191?.

Application filed February 24, 1916. Serial No. 80,188.

scale, illustrating the method of regulating the amount of mercury within the device.

1 is a frame or housing adapted to rotatably support my device upon ball bearings 2 and 3. A motor 4 may be mounted upon the frame 1, as shown in Fig. 1, and directly connected to mydevice, or any other suitable and convenient application of power may be utilized if desired.

. The rotor of my device consists of a plurality of concentric cylindrical containers with spaces therebetween inter-communicating in series as hereinafter disclosed.

lln the drawings 1 have illustrated only two separating chambers inclosed by three of said cylindrical containers, but it will be understood that as many such chambers and containers as desired may be used.

The outer container is designated by numeral 5, the intermediate by 6, and the inner container by 7 and inclosed by these containers are the outer separating chamber 8 and the inner separating chamber9 as shown in Fig. 1.

The space within the inner container 7 is subdivided into as many chambers longitudinally disposed therein as there are sep-v arating chambers, therefore in the device as illustrated, a tube or pipe 10* is inserted within the container 7, this subdividing the space within said container into chambers 11, and 12.

The said chambers within the inner container, and the separating chambers are inter-communicating in series, that is, in the illustration of Fig. 1 chamber 12 communicates with separating chamber 8 by means of annular passage 13 at the bottom of the device between the respective heads 15 and 16 of containers 6 and 5, and chamber 11 communicates directly with separating chamber 9 at the bottom thereof.

The containers are concentrically spaced at the upper ends thereof by means of flanges or glands 17, 18 and 19 secured respectively to the upper ends of containers 5, 6 and 7, as shown in Fig. 1.

The glands 1'? and 18 have inwardly projecting lugs designated respectively as 20 1 and 21, which by contacting with the outer surface of the adjacent container immedimercury 30 of bolts 22 and spacers 23, thereby providing annular chambers 24 and 25 therebetween, which annular chambers communicate re-- spectively with separating chambers 9 and 8 by means of passages 26 and 27 between lugs 20 and 21 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Mercury is introduced into the separating chambers 8 and 9 and the device is rotated at a rate sufficiently rapid to deposit said mercury, by centrifugal force, as a liner upon the inner si les of containers as shown at 30 in Fig. 1. i

A service or feed pipe 28 communicates with chambers 11 and 12 by means of a hub 29 upon gland 19 as shown in Fig. 1.

If the gold bearing material be now slushed with water preferably in proportion of 25% material to water, and the resulting liquid be introduced into the device by means of feed pipe- 28, the liquid havlng suflicient head will be forced downward through chambers 11 and 12 into separating chambers 8and 9 and upward through said separating chambers and through passages 26 and 27 into annular chambers 24 and 25, from the periphery of which it will be, discharged by a force the resultant of the head and thee centrifugal force.

For the purpose of catching the discharged liquid and conveying same away to some convenient spill way, 1 provide an annular vessel 31 open upon its, inner periphery and closely communicating with theouter periphery of the glands 17, 18. and 19, as shown in Fig. 1, said vessel being thus adapted to receive the liquid as the same is discharged from between the glands and to deliver same to any suitable sluice ways by means of suitable nozzles 32.

To aid in imparting rotary motion to the liquid as it is introduced into and passes through the device, I provide radial ribs orvanes 33 upon the inner walls of container 7 and pipe 10, and likewise vanes 34 upon the inner surface of heads 15 and 16, as shown in Fig. 1.

As the gold is the heaviest material held in suspension in the liquid feed to the device the particles of gold are thrown outward by centrifugal force upon the linings of within the separating chambers, and they are taken up by said mercury and form an amalgam therewith, while the other materials pass upward and outward through the glands.

To aid in the thorough breaking up of all the material held in suspension in the liquid as it passes through the device and thus provide ample opportunity for all particles of gold to reach the mercury, the liquid is caused to pursue a broken or devious pathway by means or riflie rings disposed within the separating chambers as now to be described.

Said riflle rings are located upon the outer wall of one container and the inner wall of the adjacent container projecting into the they are simply slipped upon the container when assembling the device and supported one upon the other, the lower ringresting upon a plate 36 secured to container 7 or upon a head 15 respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. K

The rifiie rings 37 upon the outer surface of each separating chamber are of such size as to project slightly beyond the surface of the mercury, as shown in Fig. 1, and each ring has holes or orifices therein communieating from one side thereof to the other, whereby the mercury is allowed to flow by each riflie ring when seeking its position under the influence of the centrifugal force.

Said orifices may be in the shape of holes 38 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, or slots 39 such as shown in Fig. 5, or other suitable or convenient passage ways may be provided' for the mercury, such as shown in Fig. 6

wherein each rifiie ring is provided with out- As the mercury becomes impregnated with.

the gold the thickness of the mercury linings 30 becomesgreater, and to prevent the thickness of the mercury lining becoming equal to or greater than the thickness of the hub portions of the glands 17 and 18 and thus escaping through passa es 24 and 25 between the glands and thus ecoming lost, as well. as to provide an; indication of the time when the mercury may become sufficiently impregnated with the gold as to warrant the withdrawal of the amalgam from the device for the purpose of distilling ofi the mercury or otherwise removing the gold therefrom, overflow chambers 42 are provided in the hub portion of each gland, and passage ways or ports 43 provide communication between each of said overflow.

chambers and the adjacent separating cham-' overflow, chambers and ports will be readily 1 understood.

At the commencement of operation the 35 upon the inner surface level of the mercury is shown by line C and the hub portion of the gland is provided with an annular flange 44 the outer periphery of which lies slightly within the mercury, and the outer edge of each of the parts 43 lies substantially upon this level line as shown in Fig. 7.

As the mercury level rises beyond the line (I, as for example to line D, it will flow through ports 43 'into chamber 42, whence it will be expelled by centrifugal force through ports 45 into annular catch basin 46 surrounding the device, as shown in Fig. 1, from which it will flow by means of spouts 46 into any convenient conduit that may be provided therefor.

A series of ports 47 are provided above the ports 45 connecting the said overflow,

chambers with the atmosphere for the purpose of breaking any siphonic actionthat might otherwise be set up by the overflow chamber and the ports 45 and thus cause.

the total withdrawal of the mercury from the device before it became properly impregnatedwith gold.

The function of flange 44 is to seal the ports 43 ing cham rs.

Since the gold is the material of heaviest specific gravity in the ore it-willbe sent to the outer periphery of the separation chambers by the centrifugal force, and there caused to impinge with force upon the mercury lining, and as the specific'gravity of gold is greater than" that of mercury the gold will enter the mercury lining and form an amalgam therewith, the residue passing upward through the separating chambers and outward frombetween the glands above.

My device may be made of any size and constructed of any material deemed convenient and suitable in a device of this character, and while I have illustrated and described a form of construction and arrangement of parts found desirable in materializing my invention, 1 wish to include in this application all mechanical equivalents or substitutes that may fairly be consideredrto come within the scope and purview of my.

invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having disclosed my invention so that others skilled in the art may be enabled to containersg each of said passage ways conom the water within the separatnecting with its respective separating chamber; and mercury within each of said separating chambers.

2. In a gold separator a plurality of con centrically disposed cylindrical containers forming therebetween a plurality of separating chambers, said "containers being mounted upon a frame and adapted for rapid rotation thereon; means to rotate said containers as a unit; a feed pipe adapted to receive pulverized ore held in suspension in water; and having therein means for dividing said ore and water-"into a plurality of separate portions, and means to discharge each of said portions into its respective separating chamber; a lining of mercury upon the outer periphery of each,of said separatlng chambers, held thereon by centrifugal force, and adapted to allow the particles of ore to impinge thereon; and means to discharge the residue from said separating chambers.

In a gold separator a plurality of con centrically disposed cylindrical containers forming therebetween a plurality of separating chambers,

said containers being adapted for rapid rotation; means torotate saidcontainers as a unit; means to introduce into each of said separating chambers pulverized ore held in suspension in water;

a lining of mercury upon the outer periphery of each of said separating chambers held thereon by centrifugal force and adapted to allow the particles of ore to impinge thereon; a plurality of annular rings disposed upon the inner periphery of each of said separating chambers; a plurality of annular rings disposed upon the outer periphcry of each of saidseparating chambers, the latter rings having apertures therein transversely disposed through said rings and longitudinally disposed relatively-to the con-- i tainenwhensaid rings are in place therein;

and means to discharge the residue from said separating chambers.

4. In a gold separatora plurality of concentrically disposed cylindrical containers forming therebetween a plurality of separating chambers, said containers being mounted upon a frame and adapted for rapid rotation thereon; means to rotate said containers thereon as a unit; a feed pipe adapted to receive pulverized ore held in suspension in water, and having therein means for dividing said ore and water into a plurality of separate portions, a-nd means to dischargeeach of said portions into its respective separating chamber; a lining of mercury upon the outer periphery of each of said separating chambers held thereon bycentrifugal force, and adapted to allow the particles of ore to impinge thereon means to confine said mercury to a substantially uniform and predetermined thickness upon the walls of said separating chambers;

means whereby a portion of said mercury will be discharged should the thickness thereof exceed said predetermined thickness; and means to discharge the residue from said separating chambers.

5. A gold separator ofthe centrifugal type having concentric containers, separating chambers therebetween, and mercury lining upon the outer periphery of each of said separating chambers; a plurality of glands holding the upper 'ends of said containers concentric, each of said glands havingtherein an annular overflow chamber, ports connecting said overflow chamber with the adjacent separating chamber, and peripherally disposed ports connecting said overflow chambers with the atmosphere.

'6. In a gold separator of the centrifugal type having concentric containers, separating chambers therebetween, and mercury llning upon the outer perlpheral face of each of said separating chambers; a plurality of annular riflie rings disposed within each of said separating chambers, and adapted to project slightly above the surface of said mercury lining, each of said rings having orifices or passages therethrough.

7. In a gold separator a plurality of concentrically disposed containers forming therebetween a plurality of separating chambers; means to rotate said containers; a feed pipe adapted to receive pulverized ore held in suspension in water, and having therein means for dividing said ore and water into a plurality of separate portions;

vand means to discharge each of said portions into its respective separating chamber. In wltness whereof I clann the foregoing as my 0wn,I hereunto afliX my signature in 49 the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN P. TUGGLE. W'itnesses:

C. F. BLAKE, C. S. BROWN. 

